Numerous shield devices have been designed for shielding persons' eyes and/or eyeglasses from foreign matter such as rain, sand, dust, mud, and water from sources other than rain. Some of these devices have been stand-alone devices such as goggles, which are complete for use within themselves and may be attached directly to a user's head for use. Others have been adapted for attachment to headgear which is placed on a user's head. The present invention relates generally to the latter type of shield. Some of these devices have been the subject matter of United States patents. Three patented devices relevant to the instant invention are briefly discussed below.
Preliminarily, as is discussed in the background of the invention section of U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807, there has been inconsistent use of the term "visor" in the art to which that invention and the present invention pertains. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807, the specification defines an extension of the crown of a hat or cap that extends generally forward, and for example casts shade on the eyes, as a "bill" or a "brim". A "visor", as defined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807, is restricted to a transparent lens or shield to be operatively positioned in front of the eyes of the user. For the sake of clarity, in this patent, the term "visor" refers to the forwardly extending portion of a hat, cap, or other headgear (i.e., that portion referred to as a "bill" or "brim" in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807), while the lens or shield referred to as a "visor" in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807 is referred to as a "shield," "eye shield," or "eyeglass shield" in this patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,124 issued to Sheng-Tong Day on Nov. 16, 1993 discloses perhaps the closest configuration to the present invention. It includes a clip body for clipping onto the visor of a cap and an eye shield that is pivotally attached to the clip body so that it can be pivoted into a downward, protective position in which it is in front of the eyes and an upward, nonprotective position. The eye shield's pivoting motion between operative and nonoperative positions is where the similarity with the present invention lies. However, as will be appreciated further in the description, the present invention differs in the way it is attached to the visor of a cap and further provides additional features to prevent water from dripping from the visor into the user's eyes or onto the user's eyeglasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,778 issued to Bell on Dec. 12, 1995 is only remotely related to the present invention in that is provides for a shield that is carried by a baseball-type cap which slides between a first position in which it is adjacent the crown of the cap and hidden from view therebehind, above the visor of the cap, and a second position in which it is below the cap visor (i.e., "bill") where it shields the eyes of the user. The shield translates vertically in linear fashion through a slot which is disposed between the crown and bill of a specially designed cap; there is no pivotal attachment or movement of the shield with respect to the cap or its bill.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807 issued to Peterson on Dec. 10, 1996 is more closely related to the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,778 in that its shield portion is adapted to be received within the crown of the headgear to which it is attached. However, as will be appreciated, like the present invention, the eye shield (i.e, what is referred to as the visor in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807) has ends and is co-extensive around part of the circumference of the headgear to which it is attached.
One disadvantage shared by all three of the prior inventions discussed above is that none provides a means for preventing water, such as rain water, that lands on the visor portion of the cap or other headgear, from draining off the front portion of the visor where it may distract the wearer as it flows or drips in his or her field of vision or, worse, lands in his or her eyes or on his or her eyeglasses if the shield is being worn to prevent water from impinging on the wearer's glasses. Fresh water contacting ones eyes or eyeglasses directly can be annoying and even dangerous, particularly if one is concentrating on an activity which requires unobstructed vision. Once particularly hazardous, annoying, and sometimes damaging scenario is the impinging of salt-water spray into the eyes, or onto the eyeglasses of a person while piloting a boat in rough seas. Where a person in this situation has no glasses on, salt water spray contacting the eye directly can be uncomfortable and, in many situations, extremely distracting and therefore dangerous. Where a person wears eyeglasses, either regular prescription glasses or regular or prescription sunglasses, and allows salt water spray to come into direct contact with the same, the salt water often dries on the lenses leaving behind a salt residue which obstructs vision or, if the user attempts to wipe the residue away, leaves scratches in the lenses thereby destroying them over time.
While it seems no shield can be kept completely free of water under the circumstances described, the elimination of the water that collects on a cap visor and then drains into a person's field of vision, onto a protective shield, or into their eyes or onto their glasses in extremely useful and a function which is not performed by any known prior devices.
The instant invention alleviates the difficulty discussed above and provides further advantages and objectives which are stated explicitly below or will be implicit to a user.